# Interview with Hannah Ray, Life, Career + Business Coach, TAKE Coaching Amsterdam - Published: 2026-11-11 - Author: [Hannah Ray](https://employmentnews.co/author/hannah-ray.md) - Topics: [Insights](https://employmentnews.co/insight.md) - Source: https://employmentnews.co/insight/interview-with-hannah-ray-life-career-business-coach-take-coaching-amsterdam/ - Publication: Employment News - Publisher: Connectively (Terkel, Inc.) - Editorial policy: https://employmentnews.co/editorial-policy/ ## Hannah, as a Life, Career + Business Coach with a background in marketing and advertising, how does your earlier career shape the way you support people through change today? It means that I can bring a deeper understanding of what it is like to work in a high-pressure environment — and one that can very heavily define your sense of self and success. Knowing what it means to make a career change from industries like this means that I understand and can hold space for the messy human stuff that shifts and needs addressing underneath the career change. My marketing background also means that I can move into a “strategic mode” in my coaching to complement the more reflective approach I have, which enables the conditions and frameworks to support people in taking actual steps and making moves, as well as learning how to position themselves effectively when looking for new roles. ## What led you to move from marketing and advertising into coaching, and how did that transition reshape your own definition of meaningful work? I had always been more interested in people than in advertising, and I spent most of my advertising career feeling resistant to writing slides and selling. I preferred qualitative research groups, having deeper conversations about meaning with colleagues and holding an idealistic hope for what I could achieve in such a capitalist industry. After landing my dream advertising job, I realized that the same feelings were still there, and I knew I needed to explore another path into something more focused on people and deeper, more human conversations than business strategy. ## You have spoken about redefining safety as alignment rather than familiarity; what practice helped you recognize the difference in your own career transition? For me, familiarity was working in a “cool” industry, earning a set salary each month and climbing an agency ladder until you perhaps became an agency founder or head of strategy. I realized this was largely familiar because I’d seen my parent and many family friends do it, and I’d gone to a university where that seemed to be the norm. However, when I started to investigate what I was naturally good at as well as what I actually enjoyed doing, I realized that coaching would be better aligned with my skills, personality and values. Starting my own business, creating my own salary and working intensely with people one-to-one were not familiar to me or things I had done before, but they felt much more right. The practice of inquiring and listening to myself, validating what I heard and then creating a version of success from that is what helped me recognize what it felt like to feel safer in my own understanding of myself. ## When a career change challenges someone’s sense of identity, how do you help them reconnect with who they are beyond their job title? We step back and talk about what they actually care about in life, what they enjoy doing and who they feel they really are versus how they think they need to be perceived. We do a lot of re-exploring and disconnecting from the “shoulds” of life. This can feel both disorienting (because it can sometimes make them feel more detached from their current work) and really liberating and special — like they are finally taking space to see themselves and be seen. ## What is one early sign of burnout you learned to take seriously, and what action would you encourage readers to take when they notice it? Consistent feelings of physical aversion to work. It’s one thing to feel like you have a day when you can’t really be bothered; it’s another to have months of consistent niggles or a physical pull to be away from your work. If your body is quietly whispering “ew,” “no” or “I can’t” over and over again, it’s something I would take seriously. Maybe it just means a mismatch in the workplace environment or a need to switch up your relationship with your role. Other times, it can be a sign that you’re moving toward burnout, in which case some deeper exploration of your well-being and patterns is worthwhile. ## What has your experience building a coaching business taught you about asking for support instead of trying to do everything independently? It’s vital if you want to run a sustainable business and feel well and like yourself while doing it. I think that doing some things independently has been a brilliant way to prove to myself that I can do things and learn new things, and it’s also been very mentally stimulating for me. There are other things — mostly those I’ve felt alone or very unmotivated about, and therefore continuously put off — where finding help has been a real necessity. Additionally, a really important part of being a coach is self-regulation and continuous professional and ethical development so that I can be present, effective and safe for my clients. So, it’s nonnegotiable to connect with other coaches for supervision and with other founders for relatability and inspiration. ## For someone facing a career or life transition, what is one way they can begin practicing self-trust and inner leadership this week? When you notice an instinctive thought or feeling arise, don’t push it away. Give yourself five minutes to notice it. Ask yourself: What is this feeling? What is this thought? What is it making me want to do or how is it making me want to respond? What might it actually be trying to tell me about my wants, needs or values? (You can use an “emotion wheel” for this if you need a bit of extra help naming things — a simple Google search will bring one up.) When you practice listening to yourself more, you can start to develop a more trusting relationship with yourself so that you can lead yourself more intuitively and courageously. ## Thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Is there anything else you'd like to add? People often think of career changes as finding a new job or taking on a new role, but they can also be more nuanced or deeper. They are often more about what is happening in life around our work — like becoming a parent or losing a parent, starting or ending a relationship, moving countries, feeling older, wanting more balance and energy, or wanting to find more meaning and purpose. They are often more about embracing or grieving patterns and parts of ourselves that we've been living and working by and that now require a different approach. *This content is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.* This article was first published on [Featured News](https://news.featured.com/career-change-can-mean-grieving-old-patterns-says-coach). ## Related - [Why leaders should get more tactical, not less, as they move up](https://employmentnews.co/insight/why-leaders-should-get-more-tactical-not-less-as-they-move-up.md) - [Why Employers Overestimate the Value of Experience in Recruitment](https://employmentnews.co/insight/why-employers-overestimate-the-value-of-experience-in-recruitment.md) - [Mastering the Job Interview Process](https://employmentnews.co/insight/mastering-the-job-interview-process.md) - [Understanding Employment Laws and Rights](https://employmentnews.co/insight/understanding-employment-laws-and-rights.md)